Colin Brazier: I’ve had tougher guests than Jordan Peterson

The biblical scholarship of the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson is one of several reasons why he is one of the most original voices to emerge in the global marketplace for ideas.

Here is someone who lives out his erudition. It makes him as formidable on television as he is engaging in print.

If you haven’t seen his recent interview with Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News, then I suggest you put the kettle on, fire up the iPad – borrow a computer if you have to – and kick back for half an hour.

What you will see, if you aren’t one of the six million people who have already watched it on YouTube, is someone re-positioning the counter-culture live on air.

It’s been described as a fiery interview. I have to say that, as a member of that tiny tribe of live news studio broadcasters, I’ve been on the receiving end of worse.

What makes the interview remarkable is Peterson’s humility before the facts, his genuine sense of incredulity at a worldview defined by groupthink, not empiricism. And something else: a playfulness with ideas, even though they are being articulated by a man for whom the precision of words is paramount.

​How to continue reading…

This article appears in the Catholic Herald magazine - to read it in full subscribe to our digital edition from just 30p a week